Give Thanks to the Lord - For His Justice

Missionary Prayer: Matt & Katie Dooney / Word of Life - Pray for our church as we help with the living nativity on Dec 7-10. Thousands of cars will come through and hear the gospel story from start of Christs birth to death and resurrection.

In Jesus’ Name, I pray.

Bible Reading: Ps. 94

Intro

A man had just finished his Christmas shopping at a local mall on a cold snowy day. He had several bags from the department stores in his hands when he made it back to his car he saw a trail of blood in the snow trailing from under his car. The man put his packages down inside the car and opened the hood to find that one of his cats had curled up on the engine block before he left home and had met its end. The man took the next several minutes cleaning up the mess and without a better place to put it all, he took the purchases out of one of the bags and filled it with the mess. He left the bag next to his car as he went to find a bathroom to wash his hands.

As he was returning to his car he watched as a woman look suspiciously in both directions before she grabbed the bag from beside his car and hurried off into the mall. The man decided to follow her and see what would happen next. She went into a restaurant to survey the contents of her ill-gotten gain. As the man watched he saw her face go white as she screamed, fainted, and hit her as she looked into the bag. Someone else who had watched this happen quickly called 911. As the paramedics were loading her into the ambulance the man grabbed the bag from where she had let it fall, made eye contact with her, and said, “Don’t forget your bag” as he placed it on her chest.

Instant justice. It is the type of justice that we like to happen. It's the car passing you at 90 mph and then seeing them pulled over with flashing lights 5 minutes later. It makes you feel good and when it happens it seems like the world is working as it should. However, the problem is that while that kind of justice seems good what we generally see is either no justice or biased justice, and neither of those makes the world seem right. There is another problem we have with justice as well; the fact that we don’t want to have to face justice ourselves. We have no desire to have justice of any kind happen to us and if it does then right or wrong the world is unfair.

Everybody wants justice but do they understand what that means? We have a basic understanding of justice from a pretty early age as we can tell that some things are fair and some things aren’t. There is a deep understanding when we see someone wronging us or others and there is a natural response to call it out or to help in some way fix the error. This is spelled out when we look at the definition of Justice - Justice is the ethical, philosophical idea that people are to be treated impartially, fairly, properly, and reasonably by others.

If justice is a natural response then where does it come from?

Justice Beginnings

In a way, Justice is a condition of the fall and yet it is not specifically a negative part of the curse. The Serpent told Eve that the fruit would not kill her but make her like God knowing Good from Evil. This is where our sense of justice comes from because without sin there is no reason to know Good from Evil. Without sin, Good is all that would exist but because of Sin, Evil exists as well and therefore the need for us to be able to know Good from Evil is necessary. There was no need before this action perpetrated by Adam and Eve there was no need to know the difference between Good and Evil because God was completely Good and there was no Evil in him. Psalm 92:15 “the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” Psalm 45:7a “You love righteousness and hate wickedness;” James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” 1 John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” If these passages are to be trusted then we have a God who not only knows the true difference between good and evil but He can defeat evil and evil will never have any part of Him. This is a very important truth to understand. It is foundational in our understanding of God and if we truly put our faith in God being Just then we can find hope in Him when we face all the injustices in our world.

Justice is given to us by God in that we do indeed know Good from Evil but more importantly justice is given to us by God because He alone is JUST. There is no other being in all of the Universe that can truly and completely treat everyone impartially, fairly, properly, and reasonably.

Justice seems like a weird subject to be covering during the Advent season. I mean what does God’s justice have to do with Baby Jesus? Well to answer that question we need to break down God’s justice into two different parts. If justice is to be impartial, fair, proper, and reasonable then it must both punish Evil as well as restore the Evil doer.

God’s Punitive Justice

Let’s look at both of these aspects of God’s Justice. The first is His Punitive Justice or in other words, God’s punishing, corrective, or chastening actions against evil and evil-doers. The symbol of the legal system is called Lady Justice and is a blindfolded woman holding scales in one hand with a sword in the other. The scales are to determine right from wrong, the sword to dole out punishment and uphold righteousness, and the blindfold to do so impartially. Justice is not supposed to hold favorites and it is supposed to defend the right and punish the wrong. However, humans can never truly be just because we can’t get our partiality out of the way. We are sinners and we do sinful things. Since humanity sins and that sin is a criminal act against God then God and only God can judge sin because He alone is truly Just and impartial.

God’s Punitive Justice requires that both evil and evil doers are punished for the wrongs they commit. This is meant to restrain our sinfulness because we should fear the punishment of God on sin. God cannot and will not allow sin into His presence and therefore He must punish sin and sinners with destructive force. This means that from your first sin, you were under the judgment of God to be destructively punished by God for that sin. There is none of the, “Well if I do enough things right compared to the things I do bad then God will let me in” stuff. No. From sin #1 you deserved death. That is the justice of God, there is no leeway there is no grey area; just sin deserves death. Period.

So you say, “Well that doesn’t seem fair!” And from our desire to never be held accountable to justice of any kind, it doesn’t seem fair. If only God had some sort of written rules to follow for us to know what we can and cannot do so we would not fall under God’s judgment. Ah Ha, but we do. This is where the Word of God comes into play. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” Scripture points out to us the Justice of God so that we are not unaware of the wrongs that we are causing to both our fellow man and more importantly to God. The Word of God is what points out our sin and our sin inability to obey the Word of God is the smoking gun, the incontrovertible evidence that God needs to sentence all mankind to death. However, the problem is that God didn’t create us so that He could have something to kill like some giant bully with a magnifying glass to kill us ants with. No, God created us; to love us. Since this is the case we need to look at the second part of God’s justice and here is where we get baby Jesus.

God’s Restorative Justice

We see God’s Restorative Justice during Advent because it is at this time of year that we remember that God sent His son to earth. The birth of Jesus and our remembering of that birth isn’t just about remembering a baby it is about the start of the restoration of mankind from the punishment of God’s justice that Jesus came to accomplish. God knowing that He had to punish sin and sinners alike because He was just and could not allow evil into His presence gave His creation Restorative Justice through Jesus Christ. Now this is the ultimate use of God’s Restorative Justice and it is because of His Restorative Justice that we should praise Him all the more.

If God is Just and cannot allow sin or evil in His presence and therefore must punish the sin with all His power then we have no way of being in the presence of God nor can we ever hope to attain the perfection of Heaven. But Jesus! When the heralded Angel sings, “Glory to the newborn King” is it just because a baby was born? No. This baby makes it possible for “God and sinners reconciled!" What Jesus does on the cross is God’s plan to restore His creation back to their sinlessness. When God placed all the sins of mankind on Jesus it was Just and right for Him to do so for the punishment required for sin had to be paid. As Jesus endured the cross and Jesus died on the cross it was the payment for the sins of humanity and if it all ended there then God’s Punitive Justice would have been fulfilled. But “Glory to the newborn King, Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.” With the resurrection of Christ, we sinful people are allowed to be restored to God. Truly we sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

Justice Applied

OK, so now that we have a bit of a handle on God’s Punitive Justice and God’s Restorative Justice let’s see if we can apply it to our lives. Remember the parable of the wicked unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35? In this parable we see the punitive justice of the master being set aside to show grace and mercy. Then the Master showed Restorative Justice in that he forgave the debt the servant owed. Now it was time for the servant to apply the lesson learned to his life. However, instead of learning from the mercy he had just received he goes out and has a fellow servant punitively thrown into prison for a small amount of a debt owed to the servant.

As we know this parable was to point out to us believers that we have been forgiven a debt that we couldn’t possibly pay back therefore we should willingly forgive others for their sins against us. Sometimes this is the case but the truth of the matter is we want vindication from the sins done against us.

Vindication

In our men’s study on anger, I ran across this excellent quote from the late Theologian Fredrick Buechner (BEEK-ner) who said this about anger. “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is probably the most fun. To lick your wounds, smack your lips over grievances long past, roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontation still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back - is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” What Buechner is describing here is the desire to be vindicated when you feel wronged. We forget about the Restorative Justice that we were given and what we want is Punitive Justice against our oppressor. Beuchner describes the feeling of retribution the desire to get back at those who have wronged us and the desire to make them pay for the harm they caused. We fret on the hurt that we received and we scheme over how we will get back at them. We have long memories against those who have wronged us and we desire JUSTICE to be done at once and if possible by our hands. Think about how good it felt for the man in the story with the woman and the dead cat. He got a front-row seat to watch as she opened that bag to discover the heinous mess instead of the bounty she was expecting. VINDICATION right?

This is what we want but it is not how we are to Biblicaly react. Paul in Romans 12:17–19 says, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” This is what we are supposed to do, we are supposed to give our grievances to God and allow Him to have the vengeance. The problem with that is we don’t get to have the gratification of being the one who brings them to justice, and the truth is we shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t savor the bitter confrontation to the last toothsome morsel as Buechner said. Vengeance and Retribution don’t make us better in any way. This is why I had us read Ps. 94 to begin today. We need to run to God as our refuge in our times of need, we need to depend on God to be our Vindicator and we need to allow Him to take vengeance. It is up to us to forgive and as we forgive we allow God’s peace to cover us. In this way, we don’t become a modern example of the unforgiving servant, and we stop the cycle of vengeance and anger.

Forgiveness

We want vindication from the sins done against us but we don’t want to be forced to face the consequences of the sin we have done against others and God. This is why we worship our God who not only gives us His Punitive Justice by pointing out our sins and punishing the sinner but who also gives us His Restorative Justice through the work of Christ on the Cross. The birth of Jesus allows us to join in the angel choir singing as they did in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Have you felt the consequences of your sin? Do you feel even today that your sins are being punished by God? Are you ready to stop all of this? Give Thanks to God for His Justice brings you mercy if only you will accept it.

Gospel Message:

Jesus died for our sins and because He did we can place our belief in that sacrifice. 1 John 1:9 says, “we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We have the promise of God that if we ask for forgiveness and believe in the saving power of Jesus we will be saved. And from the saving power of Jesus, we become new creations. 2 Cor. 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” This means that as Christians we get a fresh start we aren’t who we used to be and we have the power of God behind us to change who we are becoming. Glory to God in the highest for He has saved my soul and He can save yours to if you will let Him. If you aren’t sure then you can confess Him as your savior. If that is your desire today you can say this prayer with me. Bow your heads.

Dear Lord,

I know that I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin, and I ask you to forgive me. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I repent of my sins and I ask you to come into my life and take control. I make a commitment to follow you, and I trust you as my Lord and Savior.

Friend if you prayed that prayer today I ask that you come and speak to me after the service.

For those of you who are believers- Praise the Lord for He is good and Praise Him for He disciplines those He loves.

Benediction: Ephesians 3:17–19 “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

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